Stories for November 2005

Illegal fishing fleets are plundering the seas and endangering depleted fish stocks by taking advantage of international rules by which they can adopt flags of convenience from other countries to provide a cover for their activities.

Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez forecasted that the coming Americas Summit in Mar del Plata, Argentina will definitively bury the United States sponsored Free Trade of the Americas Association, FTAA.

President George W. Bush described United States relations with Latin America as good and said his administration's polity is to be good neighbours and good friends with the region stressing upon the shared values of democracy.

OAS Secretary-General Jose Miguel Insulza said in an interview published Wednesday that he believed it would be hard to make progress on the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) at the Summit of the Americas, which will be held later this week in Mar del Plata, Argentina.

Describing Gibraltar as an extremely sensitive issue for Spain, Director General for European Affairs Jose Pons declared that we had never been as close to an agreement as we were at the time of the 2002 joint sovereignty negotiations.

Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez said in Caracas he is willing to debate, during the coming Americas Summit in Argentina, with US president George Bush on the merits of the Free Trade Area of the Americas, FTAA.

United States president George W. Bush admitted that negotiations for a free trade zone embracing 34 countries of the hemisphere, Free Trade Area of the Americas, FTAA which was scheduled to begin functioning 2005/ 2006 are stalled.

A map of South America flashed on the screen and theme music played as live news broadcasts began Monday on a new Latin American TV station backed by Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez as an alternative to large corporate media outlets.